Hi All So I am(actually my family) is stuck in a massive hole at the moment. Our family business of Book publishing and distribution has suffered some huge losses in last couple of years(many reasons). Till then I wasn't really involved with it at all because of my school and stuff. I have now joined in as well and I am trying to get it back into profitability. And I have hit a roadblock. Till now we were into wholesale mainly and had only contacts with distributors and other small businesses, not direct customers. So one of the measures I am taking up is with respect to branding. And that of course starts with the website. So the .com name that we have for our publishing business is already taken by a book blogger. I tried tweeting and emailing her(not telling her that I want the domain, but just a general interest in some business proposition) but she seems to have ignored it. She is in Canada and our business is based in India.. So I am not sure how to get the deal done. I don't have a lot of money on hand to offer her some good cash for the name. So yeah, what now?
Well you can have a broker approach and make an offer in your name, once she realizes who you are she will probably demand you pay her a what she things is fair which will in most case be more then what you think is fair. Put yourself in her shoose what would you ask if you where her? The best solution might be honesty just make your case openly and tell here who you are and what you need an your financial situation maybe that might work better.
If you want it, you're going to need to let her know that you want it lol...especially if your business is being halted because you don't own the .com. Personally, I wouldn't recommend a broker. From the sounds of it, it's probably not the most "premium" name? Could be wrong, and there's likely not to be a need. Feel free to pm me the name, and I'll look into it (JUST looking into it, no contacting), as far as pricing and how you may be able to get ahold of her. There's nothing wrong w/ a .net or even a .info (or maybe a "new g") if those are available. A couple years down the road you may no longer care, or have the $ to make her an offer she couldn't refuse .
Instead of chasing after the .com, why don't you try other extensions such as .book or .club, etc. Another way would be to google for her name and try t contact her in every way. She probably have Facebook account, Pinterest, etc. Other than that, you might want to sound a bit professional in your email. She might thought your just a spammers. I've received an email offer to buy my domain name once in a while and they never serious. People don't want to waste time to reply if they thought you're a spammer. These info might help: www.domaintools.com/learn/how-do-i-buy-a--domain-name-currently-owned-by-someone-else-422/ www.igoldrush.com/domain-guide/domain-buying-and-selling/negotiating-making-and-receiving-offers
go for .in extensions if your business is limited in india. also you can start selling your books over ebay, flipkart and amazon.in etc.
Although .com is the best and someone already own the .com name you want for your business there are still a lot of options for that. Express your interest to purchase the domain name to the present owner at a price you can afford. If outcome is negative, then there are sure to be other extensions that can be a good replacement. If you have good SEO and good business strategy, you can still make your way to the top even without the .com.